Day 4 Philippians 2:3 "always check your motivation"

(So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.)
3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Years ago I began to teach people how to see the providential hand of God in their lives through an exercise of prayerful thanksgiving. Each person is given a piece of paper and a pen and asked to close their eyes and in their mind “walk through” their houses room by room and visualize what is there. Open the drawers, look in closets, and count the number of pairs of underwear, the number of forks, cans of soda. They are given only five minutes to complete the walk. I set a timer, say go, and watch the race! At the end everyone in unison prays aloud “thank you Father for giving me”…and read their list. It’s life changing actually, to intentionally look at everything you possess and place it against what we as Anglicans say each Sunday “all things come from thee oh Lord, and of thine own have we given thee.”

Here in verse 3 Paul is telling all followers of Jesus to prayerfully walk through their motivations and honestly look at why they did them. It’s a call to live a very intentional life, isn’t it? Try it out. Think about every decision you made yesterday from the time you woke up to the time you went to sleep. The very first waking thought. The word used for “nothing” means “nothing”, not a single action should not be checked to see if it for our own glory.

The selfish act is self-seeking; as in seeking political office for personal gain. This self-seeking leads to strife within the body (see Cor. 13). Vain glory is focused on me, humility is focused on others. As I mentioned yesterday, it is impossible to have this outward focus without inward transformation. This “other-serving” community is so counter-cultural that it is a principal witness to the world (see Romans 12:5)

But isn’t humility like being a doormat? No, only in New Testament literature is humility expressed in a positive tone. Why? It was the position Jesus took with His Father, and it is the one we should take as well. This act of putting our actions into captivity is liberating. And, it is grammatically, and thus ethically, imperative, to place yourself under Jesus and then others. You are to see them better than yourself, as you are called to see Jesus better than yourself.

We keep journals of calories, of expenses, of time, why are we so remiss to keep track of our actions? It is difficult as fallen humans. We innately self-justify our actions; “that woman, who you gave me, she made me!” Adam and Eve weren’t framed, we framed ourselves. What should the response be? The same as the prodigal who returned to the Father after he realized the motivation of his actions. Realize our selfishness and ask fo for forgiveness. This is very purifying. Then, when we are persecuted, it will be easier to tell if it is from doing good, or evil. Critical self-examination, confession, repentance, asking for forgiveness…and receiving it. That is the work of the cross. It is the process of sanctification for the world to see Jesus